Continuing with my brief Costume College recap, Saturday started with another fun class taught by Janea Whitacer – Making Friends with Your Thimble. I had attempted to take Janea’s classes for several years but never managed to get in. This year I was super lucky and got both! The thimble class was really informative. Not only did we learn the proper way to sew with a thimble (being self-taught, I had never figured this out), but we also went over the most efficient ways to sew, as well as learned some 18th century stitches and seam techniques.Read more...

And I'm back! I had a lovely time, as usual, at Costume College this year. It was so nice to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. I really tried to overcome my shyness this year and one of the best parts of the weekend for me was chatting with lots of different costumers and getting to know them a little better. I hope to do even better next year!

No progress on my 1790s stuff yet. After I wrote my last post, I realized that while my Costume College stuff was wearable, I still had a few tweaks I wanted to make and with only 6 weeks to go, I decided to put that first rather than stress myself out by waiting until the last minute. I am not a fan of last minute sewing.

My 18th century wardrobe full of pretty, pretty princess clothes – silk and frills galore – but not much in the way of practical clothing. If I’m being honest, lower class clothing just doesn’t appeal. But after I made my brown wool petticoat, I knew I needed another jacket to go with it, something I wouldn’t be afraid to get dirty or messy. Enter the teal ikat jacket!

I think one of my favorite parts of this trip was getting to make and wear all kinds of fun accessories. The kinds of things like mitts and cloaks that you just don’t need at a hotel convention or summer picnic, those little things that make the outfit seem more like clothing and less like a costume.